Astros' Rodriguez baffles Mets

Rodriguez recorded his first career shutout of the season and
Lance Berkman homered as the Houston Astros rolled to a 4-0
triumph over the struggling New York Mets on Friday night.

Rodriguez (6-7) entered with a 4-2 record and 2.13 ERA at home
this season and continued that impressive pattern against the
Mets as Houston snapped a two-game skid.

"I felt very happy to get my first shutout in the big leagues,"
Rodriguez said. "When I've been throwing in the bullpen in
between starts, I've been working on mostly location. I just
stayed focused out there and threw the ball where I wanted to."

"Wandy has had some pretty good outings here lately," Berkman
said. "When he locates his fastball, when he's pitching like he
did, controlling both sides of the plate, mixing his off-speed
stuff, he's as good a lefty as there is in the league."

The Dominican lefthander yielded four hits with a season
high-tying eight strikeouts en route to handing New York its
third shutout of the season.

"I certainly wasn't thinking necessarily a nine-inning shutout,
but I knew he was throwing the ball pretty well," Astros manager
Phil Garner said. "He had a good breaking ball that he threw
for strikes early in the count."

Rodriguez threw 65 of 95 pitches for strikes and only faced
trouble in the first inning, when Carlos Beltran belted a
two-out double to left-center field.

"That's the best I've seen him pitch," Houston catcher Brad
Ausmus said. "The Mets have a very good offensive lineup.
(Rodriguez) did an excellent job of moving in and out with his
fastball. He stayed out of the middle of the plate and he used
his off-speed pitches effectively, especially his curveball."

"(Rodriguez) threw a great game - he was consistent in the
zone," New York manager Willie Randolph said. "He got a a few
calls, but he made pitches, too. He just executed his pitches
very well."

Houston took a 1-0 lead in the third inning. Ausmus beat out a
slow grounder which Mets third baseman David Wright was unable
to field. Ausmus took second on a sacrifice and stole third
before scoring on Craig Biggio's run-scoring single.

In the fifth inning, rookie Hunter Pence hit an RBI double and
scored on Berkman's 15th blast to left against Mets starter Mike
Pelfrey (0-7) for a 4-0 advantage.

Pelfrey saw his troubles continue as he suffered his second
straight loss since being called up from AAA New Orleans to
remain winless since July 18, 2006.

Pelfrey pitched six innings, allowing four runs and seven hits
with a career-high five strikeouts.

"I thought I threw pretty well except for a couple of mistakes,"
Pelfrey said. "I got the ball up on Berkman and he made me pay
for it. You can't walk Ausmus to start the inning, and that
hurt me."

Randolph had little patience with Mets All-Star shortstop Jose
Reyes, who was pulled after he failed to run out a ground ball
for the last out of the eighth.

"I took him out for that reason," Randolph said. "If you can't
hustle, then you sit. That (plate appearance) was pretty
self-explanatory. It's unacceptable. You go out there every
day and you play hard or you sit your butt. The key is to play
hard all the time."